Forging Connections
by Ness Frost
Summary: In which every member of the Gaang is paired up with every other member. Yes, all of them.
1. Kataang: Dreaming Out Loud

**Point in Timeline:** Immediately post canon.

**Level of Explicitness:** Hand-holding and cuddles. Pure fluff.

* * *

He'd been dreaming of this for months on end. As a matter of fact, he'd been dreaming about it ever since the day he'd awoken from the iceberg and seen her face above him.

Of course, as Aang was quickly learning, there was a very large difference between _dreaming_ and _doing_.

That kiss on the balcony of the Jasmine Dragon had felt _right_. In that moment, all doubts had been removed: he loved Katara, and Katara loved him back. There was no more war, no life-or-death battles to be fought, and they were finally free to just _be_.

It wasn't until the next day that she asked him the question: "So what now?"

"Well, Zuko and I are going to have to figure out what to do about the colonies. Toph said something about starting up a metalbending school. And I think the Southern Water Tribe still needs rebuilding…"

"I meant, what about _us?_" Reaching forward across the table, she laid her hand gently over his. "The war is over, but honestly… I don't think I'll even know what to do with myself anymore when we're not running around trying to save the world." She laughed a little, then, and though beautiful to his ears the sound also shot a jolt of sadness through him for a reason that Aang couldn't quite put his finger on. "I'm getting ahead of myself, though. Like you said, there's all sorts of cleanup to do, and I'm sure it'll be years before we can relax at all…"

As she spoke, Aang felt his heart wrench, and he couldn't help but remember the first time they'd met.

"_I haven't done this since I was a kid!_"

"_You still are a kid!_"

Katara had no idea how to live in a world without war. She had never even had the luxury of imagining such a life.

Pushing his chair out from the table, he stood, and held out a hand. "Come with me."

"Aang?" she asked even as he pulled her unresisting from her chair and past a startled Iroh, out the door of the Jasmine Dragon to where Appa waited. "Where are we going?"

"I'm taking you out on our first official date."

* * *

Hours later, they sat hand in hand on top of the nearest convenient roof, watching the celebratory Earth Kingdom fireworks. Below them, the fountain with the lanterns in it sparkled like so many stars.

"Aang, this… this is amazing."

He tightened his arm around her waist. "I know."

"And just think, a few days ago even the Fire Nation was celebrating with us."

He smiled then, a little sadly, thinking of time spent with Kuzon in the days when 'Fire Nation' didn't automatically mean 'the enemy.' "I know."

What was done was done, however, and there was no going back. He might never see Kuzon again, or the Air Nomads, or the days before the world had been ripped apart, but he was here with Katara now, and for once in her life she had gained the hope of putting it back together.

It was time to stop dreaming, and start living.

* * *

**A/N:** This collection of shorts was written for a challenge, whose goal was to write about the connections of every Gaang member with every other Gaang member. And, since I'm apparently a masochist, I decided to push myself out of my comfort zone and write every single one of those as a romance. Yes, all of them. I decided to start with something easy (read: canon).

Anyway, these shorts are unrelated by anything but a common theme and I'll clearly label what's what, so feel free to read what you like and skip what you don't. That is all.


	2. Tokka: With Benefits

**Point in Timeline:** Early Republic City era. The characters are somewhere in their late 20's or early 30's.

**Level of Explicitness:** References to masturbation, implied casual sex.

* * *

"You know, I can tell you're lying." The newly-minted police chief crossed her arms over her chest, her sightless eyes seeming to penetrate him far more effectively than if she'd actually been able to see him.

Councilman Sokka's only response was to send a scowl her way that he knew she couldn't see. So _what_ if he hadn't been on anything that could be even remotely called a date for the past three years and counting? So _what_ if he hadn't so much as kissed a girl since a rather messy breakup that had left him alternately wanting to storm the Republic City streets with sword in hand and curl up in a little ball in the nearest available hole? It was none of Toph's business!

"Look," she continued as if reading his mind, "I know this is none of my business—"

No, it really wasn't.

"—but it's impossible _not_ to feel what you've been doing in the bathroom _every single day_ for the last five months—" Sokka choked, "—and it's getting kind of distracting. So do you want to spill, or am I going to have to call your sister up here so you can cry on her? Because I really don't like people crying on me," she added as an afterthought.

Sokka rubbed his forehead. He should have known there was no such thing as privacy anywhere within a city block of Toph—he couldn't even accuse her of spying, since unless she wanted to invest in a wooden office she couldn't exactly help her sensitivity to vibrations. "Look," he said at last, lowering his hand and making a mental note to keep it in his own bathroom from then on, "I'm working off some frustration because I haven't been getting much of the real thing. That's all."

Arms still crossed, she leaned back against the wall and adopted a quizzical expression. "That's exactly what I don't get, Snoozles. Last I heard, you had women _swarming_ you. You're famous. How have you _not_ had a date yet?"

"Aside from the fact that none of them would look at me twice if I weren't friends with the Avatar?" Though he could feel a splitting headache coming on, Sokka pulled the latest stack of papers toward himself; he could not afford to fall behind. "They're not interested in _me_, Toph. Besides, I don't think I'm ready for another commitment yet. Not after the way the last one ended."

As he spoke, he took up his brush and dipped it into the inkwell. Toph, taking this as the dismissal it was, shrugged and walked out of his office. To his surprise, however, Sokka found that as he lowered the brush to the paper his chest felt considerably lighter.

When he had finally made it through the stack, Sokka pushed back his chair with a yawn and looked up, to find that the hallway was now empty and the last streaks of sunlight were mere smudges on the horizon. He'd worked overtime (again—he seemed to be doing a lot of that lately), he had a cramp in his neck and his stomach was rumbling. Pushing back from the desk, he raised his arms over his head in a wide stretch—and froze.

A woman in metal armor was leaning against the side of his doorframe, arms crossed over her chest, bangs falling into her eyes, and the corner of her mouth upturned in the slightest hint of a smirk.

"I've never been big on sappy outpourings of feelings," Toph began before Sokka could process the situation enough to ask what she was still doing there, "so I'm going to tell it to you straight. I've been wanting to say this since I was twelve years old and you were a nobody, and it had nothing whatsoever to do with Twinkle Toes. I don't do commitments, and I don't do mushy romance—but what I _will_ do, I do well, and I can _guarantee_ it'll be better than whatever you've been up to in the bathroom."

As he realized what she was offering, Sokka felt heat rise to his face—not to mention other parts of him. Even if he had known of her affections during the war, he'd have dismissed them as a child's crush—but Toph definitely wasn't a little girl anymore, and he wasn't a fumbling fifteen-year-old either. Maybe it wouldn't be love, at least not of the romantic variety, but romance wasn't what either of them were looking for at this point in their lives. Still…

"One thing, Toph… we're friends. And I want to _be_ friends no matter what happens between us. If this is going to change that…"

In response, she only snorted. "Please." Though she didn't turn her head, her smirk widened, and he knew that she knew that she had him. "You think something like _this_ is going to come between us after we took down an airship fleet together?"

That was all he needed to hear. In spite of himself, Sokka could feel a matching expression growing on his own face.

"Close. The door."

* * *

**A/N:** My take on the theory that Sokka was Suyin's father.

Also, I should probably mention that I want critiques on these—_please_ refrain from leaving reviews saying that the chapter is awful because you hate the pairing, but I'm trying to build up some creative muscles by hitting one of my major weak points, so I'd like to know if I've broken character, whether I'm getting the characters together believably, whether I'm handling the necessary breakups well etc.


	3. Suko: Burdens Shared

**Point in Timeline:** Comics era; AU after _The Promise_.

**Level of Explicitness:** Kissing

* * *

Suki honestly couldn't have said when it started. All she knew was that somewhere along the line, disdain and anger had turned to camaraderie and eventually friendship, and then to a jolt that shot through her gut every time she saw him, and she hadn't even noticed.

When she thought about it, however, she realized that it wasn't until after she had signed on as Zuko's bodyguard that she had truly started to see him as a _person_, someone like her with needs and wants, shouldering a burden that was far too heavy for any one person to bear alone, and that she wanted to help him carry it.

"_Six?_" Suki stared in disbelief when Ty Lee told her how many assassination attempts Zuko had survived in the first year of his reign alone. "He wasn't hurt, was he?"

"No, he's fine." She had long ago gotten used to Ty Lee speaking to her with her body contorted into some sort of configuration that Suki found painful just to look at. "But Mai thinks he will get hurt if he has to keep fighting them off himself." She flipped back upright, her normally cheerful face taking on a more serious expression. "You'll help him, right?"

"Of course. I'll ask around and see if any of the other Kyoshi Warriors are willing as well." Ty Lee's brilliant smile was reward enough for anything—Suki didn't know how they'd become such good friends in the short time they'd known each other, but now it was nearly impossible to imagine life without her—and Suki gave a faint smile of her own as she watched the other girl backflip away.

The smile fell from her face, however, as her thoughts drifted back to the reason for Mai's request. _Six…_ She'd known from the beginning that Zuko had survived plenty of hardships—one look at his face was enough to tell her that—but the thought that he was suffering still more in what should have been a time of peace troubled her far more than it would have before she'd known him.

It was harder still to actually see him, and watch his decline from the person she'd known in the war. Zuko might not have been hurt, but the repeated attacks were taking their toll: it was clear from one look that he'd barely been sleeping at all, and having competent guards at his door didn't seem to help him much in that regard.

Suki took her job seriously. When she guarded a person, it was with the understanding that his life was—almost literally—in her hands. Therefore, when he walked off alone in the middle of the night, dismissing her offer of an escort, even though she knew full well that Zuko could take care of himself while awake, Suki followed. When she saw where he was going, however…

_This isn't something I can help him with_, she realized as she leaned up against the prison wall, torn, knowing that something was terribly wrong but unable to offer any sort of solution. They'd fought together at the Boiling Rock, slept under the same roof, watched one stupid play, and exchanged a few words concerning her village and the burning down thereof, but that marked the extent of their acquaintance. During the war, Suki hadn't been with the group long enough to actually get to know him, and after… well, after, they had all gone their separate ways. She didn't know why Zuko was meeting with Ozai, but she did know that it wasn't a topic he'd be willing to discuss with a mere bodyguard. He needed to hear it from someone closer to him—given the topic at hand Aang was out of the question, and Iroh was in Ba Sing Se, which only left one possibility…

It didn't go the way that she'd planned. Instead of Mai finding out what was wrong as Suki had hoped, the conversation ended in their breakup, and Suki felt guilt churn in the pit of her stomach as she watched Mai walk away. She'd intended to help him, and instead had ended up piling one more burden on top of everything else…

"I'm so sorry!" Suki was, she realized, on her hands and knees in front of him—not groveling before the Fire Lord, but begging forgiveness from a friend. Upon seeing her in that position, she heard his breath hitch, and even as she explained herself he was reaching down to pull her to her feet.

Then, it slipped out: "We're really worried about you—_I'm_ really worried about you."

That conversation, however, was cut short, and Suki found herself in the unenviable position of having to assemble Team Avatar once more because it looked like Zuko was about to do something that could put an end to every one of his hard-forged friendships—or, even worse, start another war.

"He seemed so… lonely," she admitted to Sokka even as they prepared to go to battle against him.

It was true, she realized—Aang, Katara, and Sokka had never parted since the end of the war. Toph had her students. Suki had Ty Lee and the other Kyoshi Warriors. Zuko… he had no one. Ruling a country alone with his friends scattered to the four winds, his only family worth speaking of a continent away, and going by what Mai had said he'd been distancing himself from her as well… no wonder he was starting to crumble.

Thankfully, it didn't come to what they'd all feared. Aang found a peaceful solution just like he always did, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief as the armies backed down, only for Zuko to collapse on the battlefield—not from injury, but from exhaustion.

"I'm taking him to the Jasmine Dragon," Aang called down to them as he hefted the unconscious Fire Lord into Appa's saddle; Katara leaped in after him, her healing water already out. "Can you guys hold down the fort here until we get back?"

"Don't worry about us, Aang." Sokka stepped forward; the rest of them gathered around him in a show of solidarity. "We've got you covered."

The next they heard from Aang, it was that Zuko would be staying in the Earth Kingdom for a while longer—first to recover, then to resume negotiations with Earth King Kuei. Suki, however, would be returning to the Fire Nation.

"It'll be a show of good faith," Aang explained. "It's a whole new world, and if Earth Kingdom natives are going to work in the Fire Nation, so much the better. Besides," he added in a more serious tone, "the Fire Nation's bound to be in an uproar with its leader gone. I need someone there I know I can trust."

Suki agreed readily enough; his logic was sound, and besides Zuko would hardly need a bodyguard with the Avatar by his side. Her presence at the negotiations would have been redundant. Still, as she boarded the ship that would take her back to the Fire Nation, Suki couldn't help but wonder how long it would be before Zuko returned as well—they hadn't had much of a chance to be friends during the war, and Suki was seeing the omission more and more as a missed opportunity.

Nevertheless, when he returned Suki was taken off-guard by how _happy_ she was to see him back. True, it had been several long weeks of boredom punctuated by the occasional mission to flush out Ozai loyalists, but Zuko's return only meant that time spent consulting with Mai or exchanging letters with Aang would be replaced by nights spent standing in front of a door—hardly the pinnacle of excitement.

Suki fell into her new routine with the comfort of old habit. Her nights were spent standing guard, her off-days and free time training with Ty Lee—though she had reached the stage where she was able to consistently strike all of the right pressure points, she still had to consciously think about what she was doing, and she knew that if she ever had to use chi-blocking in a combat situation, her opponent wasn't going to politely stand still while she figured out where to hit him.

"Suki? Can I talk to you?"

Her concentration was broken, and she accidentally hit the guard who'd volunteered to be today's practice dummy on his funny bone rather than the intended pressure point. "I am so sorry!" she apologized as he winced and grasped his arm. "Are you okay?"

"Nothing worse than a bruise." He rubbed his arm. "Still, I think I've about reached my limit for today." He grinned. "You pack quite a punch for a girl your size." With a nod to her and a brief bow to Zuko, he turned around and left.

"Um… sorry about that." Even as Zuko apologized, however, Suki felt blood rise to her face at the thought that he'd seen her make such a bad slip-up, and was glad that she'd put on her face paint before training today. "Are you free now?"

"Yes, of course." A nervous jolt shot through her midsection, however, as she followed him from the training grounds, wondering what he could possibly want to discuss with her.

It was a few minutes of walking before he decided to share what was on his mind. "I've been away from the Fire Nation for a long time," he started. "Well, I guess you already knew that, since you were sort of there… right." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "What I'm trying to say is that in the past four years, I've spent more time away than I have at home, and even when I am here I seem to have lost touch with my own people. I know that you and the other Kyoshi Warriors did a lot of work both with my advisers and with the people over the last few weeks. The truth is, I need…" He took a deep breath. "I need your help."

In response, she stared. _He_ was asking _her_ for help? "I'll do what I can," was her tentative reply.

The first time they met in his study, they both started.

"I'd almost forgotten how you looked without all the makeup," he admitted.

"I could say the same thing about you and your crown," she shot back without missing a beat. They exchanged a smile.

"Tea?" Zuko lifted the steaming pot in the middle of the table.

"Just like old times." Suki held out her cup.

Months passed, and the meetings became another part of her routine. Ty Lee dragged her to festivals and circuses on their off-days. Suki learned to eat the spicy Fire Nation food without reaching for her water every other bite. She and Sokka ended it due to the difficulty of maintaining such a long-distance relationship, but continued to exchange letters that got increasingly less awkward as time went on. One by one, the other warriors got homesick and left. Their positions were not left vacant, though, as Suki now had a class full of potential replacements—local girls and women who'd wanted to learn self-defense, not to mention a handful of guards.

"The job pays well," she informed Giya when the younger girl stayed behind after class to make a stammering inquiry, "not to mention it comes with a lot of prestige—if you can stand the boredom, that is."

The next day, she learned that a handful of her students had signed on to the entry program for the Fire Lord's elite guards, and Suki smiled as she helped them put on their makeup for the first time.

"So are you going to go back to Kyoshi Island now?"

Ty Lee looked uncharacteristically morose as she asked it, and Suki started as she realized it was a question she hadn't even thought about. "Why are you asking?" she responded carefully.

"Well… everyone else has." Ty Lee slumped where she sat, and the fact that she was _sitting_ like a normal person, not bent over backwards or standing on her hands, told Suki that she was feeling far more down than she'd been letting on, and Suki felt a pang of guilt that she hadn't noticed before. "I've never had so many friends before, but… this is my home. I don't know what I'm going to do after you leave," she confessed.

When she'd first crossed the sea to protect both the Fire Lord and their fragile peace, it had been with the understanding that the arrangement was a temporary one, and that she'd eventually go back. For the first time since she'd come here, however, Suki questioned whether she really wanted to.

Kyoshi Island was her home. It was the place where she knew everyone, and everyone knew her name. It was the place where she'd been born, where she'd first curled her clumsy eight-year-old fingers around the handle of a dulled fan. When the Avatar had arrived, however, bringing the Fire Prince with him, her eyes had been forced open and she'd realized the extent to which they'd wrapped themselves up in an isolating fog. Closing their eyes and ears to the outside world would not save them from conflict—it would only make them more vulnerable when the danger inevitably came to their door. Those had been real soldiers they'd faced, not a group of teenagers playing dress-up, and if not for the heroism of the Avatar they'd have lost far more than a few houses. What had made it even worse was the thought that so many others _had_ lost more.

When she'd left, she had discovered how _big_ the outside world was, and how limited her own experience was by comparison. There would always be people who needed help. There would always be someone better than her—the admission had stung, especially when she'd been sitting in a Fire Nation jail cell—but the flip side of that was that there would always be something new to learn. If she were to go back now, Suki knew, her tiny island would seem so small, so… stifling. Her friends were there, her _family_ was there—but if there was anything the Hundred Year War had taught her, it was that she needed more room to grow than Kyoshi Island could give her.

She was trying to work out some of these conflicted feelings on the training grounds—first running through the comfortable routine of the earliest forms she'd learned, then practicing her chi blocking on a straw dummy—when the sound of someone clearing his throat behind her drew her attention away from her practice. "Mind if I join you?"

She turned. Zuko—it still felt weird to her to think of him as the Fire Lord—had exchanged his elaborate robes for the simple traveling outfit he'd worn when they'd been on the run with Aang, and his shaggy hair was loose and falling into his eyes. "Well, this is your property." She gestured to the training grounds, which were mostly empty at this time of day. "I hardly think you need my permission."

"Yeah, but… it still seems rude not to ask. Ozai definitely wouldn't have," he added after a second's hesitation.

"Be my guest." Suki returned to punching the dummy as Zuko took a firebending stance.

By the time she had finished her routine, he was well into the swing of his, and Suki stopped to watch as she packed up her fans. Zuko was practicing an elegant, flowing form that looked like no firebending she'd ever seen before, his feet moving fluidly from one stance to the next until they had carried him in a half-circle that ended with him punching the air with both hands.

Suki realized that she was staring. That form had been beautiful—_he_ had been beautiful performing it. As the realization hit her her face flushed, and she fled the training grounds with a hastily mumbled farewell.

_No_, she told herself firmly as she lay in bed the next morning after the end of her shift. _No, no, no, and no._ Zuko was the Fire Lord—more importantly, he was her _employer_. She wouldn't be able to do her job effectively if she let a distraction like this get the better of her. What's more, she was confused enough already—she didn't need _this_ to think about on top of everything else that was already on her mind.

_So?_ another voice chimed in. _You're not one of his subjects; it shouldn't matter to you what station he is. You were comrades in arms well before you worked for him, and you weren't exactly planning to do this job for the rest of your life, now were you?_

_He probably doesn't even feel the same way._

That was, of course, the crux of the problem. With Sokka, it had been easy—she hadn't even thought it was possible to blush through so much face paint. Zuko, on the other hand, had been raised to politics—his smiles were muted, his expressions carefully controlled, and he knew how to hide his emotions when he really wanted to.

Even supposing he did return her feelings, what then? He was the Fire Lord, and she was a common guard—not to mention an Earth Kingdom native. If Suki had a lot on her mind right now, it was nothing in comparison to what Zuko was dealing with. He didn't need this kind of a distraction either. After thinking it over for a few days, Suki knew what she had to do.

"Suki?" Zuko frowned as he looked up from whatever paperwork he was currently doing—this wasn't their usual meeting time. "Is something wrong?"

She took a deep breath. Though she'd rehearsed this moment, actually _doing_ it was something else entirely—once the words were out, she would not be able to take them back. "Actually, I'm here to give you my resignation."

He froze in mid-motion, the brush in his hand dripping ink onto the parchment. "You're quitting?"

"Yes." Contrary to her expectations, it was easier to keep going now that she had started. "I'll stay on for another month—that ought to be plenty of time to find a replacement and to make sure she has the training she needs. I've even got a few promising candidates I could name if you're interested. After that, though…" There was no need for her to finish.

"I see." Glancing down at the parchment in front of him, Zuko saw the steadily growing blotch of ink, shook himself, and carefully replaced the brush before pushing the scroll to the side. "Can I ask why?" Then: "Is it something to do with me?"

"I… well, that's a bit complicated." Though she didn't want to share the details if she didn't have to, neither was Suki going to lie—she owed him better than that. "It's not because you've been bad to work for. It's just… there are a lot of things happening in my life right now, and I need to move on."

"Of course. That's completely understandable." With a shake of his head, Zuko gestured for her to sit. "I—" He paused, appeared to think for a few seconds, took a deep breath, and continued. "I realize I've been acting somewhat selfishly lately. All the while I've been taking advantage of your willingness to help me with my problems, but it never occurred to me that you might have some of your own."

"You weren't taking advantage. I wanted to help." Before she'd even consciously realized she was doing it, Suki had reached across the desk to lay her hand atop his.

Zuko froze. So did Suki, staring at her hand as though it wasn't a part of her body, but rather some stranger's appendage. Her cheeks were growing warmer by the second, and she knew that without her makeup (_why_ hadn't she worn her makeup today?), the blush would be visible for all to see.

"I'm sorry." Her whole arm jerked as she pulled her hand away. "I shouldn't—"

"Suki." Before she could withdraw fully, he had moved to rest his own hand atop her wrist. His touch was light, and she could have broken away with ease, but nevertheless it held her far more effectively than if he had been gripping her with his full strength. "When you said it was complicated…?"

Heart now pounding against her ribcage, she gave a small nod. Was he saying what she thought he was saying…?

"I… have a confession to make." Zuko's fingers tightened ever so slightly around her hand. "I didn't just ask you to meet with me because I needed your help. You've been a great help, of course," he added hastily, "but I also wanted to spend time with you. At some point I realized that… well…"

As he also stumbled on what he wanted to say, Suki knew that they'd reached the point where talking would get them nowhere. She had never been one to wait around for something she wanted to come to her; she would either work for it, or accept that it was out of her reach. Now that she knew he felt the same way, which option to take was abundantly clear.

While Zuko continued to stammer, Suki stood, grabbed two fistfuls of his clothing, dragged him forward, and kissed him over the desk.

* * *

**A/N:** Longer chapter, because this relationship required much more development than the other two. Kataang is obviously canon, and I had Toph's obvious crush on Sokka to build from, but this one had almost no canon basis. Thus it was also the most difficult and stubborn chapter I've written thus far, and I had to drag it out of myself line by line, and… what did I just get myself into?

…it's only going to get worse from here on out, isn't it? *headdesk*


	4. Sotara: Firsts and Lasts

**Warning:** For mild incest. I've portrayed it as a couple of curious kids experimenting, but it's still there.

**Point in timeline:** Pre-canon flashback; takes place early on in the episode "Jet".

**Level of explicitness:** Closed-mouth kissing.

* * *

"Who? _Gran-Gran?_" Katara crossed her arms over her chest with an insufferably smug expression. "I've met Gran-Gran."

Katara was simply _infuriating_ when she got like this—even more so because they had both heard what she wasn't saying, and which neither one of them was going to bring up in front of Aang. She knew _exactly_ how much experience he had with kissing.

There had been no one else in their tiny village even close to their own age—middle-aged women and a handful of toddlers had been the norm, Sokka and Katara the exception, two teenagers amidst the children and the elderly. As the two fittest members of the Tribe who'd remained at home, they'd also been the ones to do most of the hunting and fishing. They'd spent a lot of time alone together out on the ice.

They'd been just old enough to be curious, just young enough not to know better. It had only happened a few times and it had never gone far, lips brushing up against each other in the barest of shy touches before they'd pulled away and gone back to minding the nets as if nothing had happened. They never spoke of it out loud, either—what was there to say? Though they'd always known that what they were doing was fundamentally forbidden, it hadn't seemed particularly _wrong_ at the time—it wasn't like they'd be having babies together, and it wasn't as if either of them would ever get the chance to kiss anyone _else_. On some level, he thought that they'd just wanted to know what it felt like before they grew too old for it to matter.

Now, of course, things were different. He'd seen the way the Avatar looked at his sister—Aang might have thought he was being subtle, but his affections were obvious to anyone with eyes. As for Sokka's part… well, he remembered a girl with exotic makeup, so like and yet so unlike the Water Tribe's war paint, and a pair of soft lips brushing up against his cheek. For the first time in their lives, they both had _options_.

What had happened before would always remain a secret between them—"I got my first kiss from my sister" wasn't exactly something you bragged about. Besides, the situation had changed—Katara, he knew, now had the chance to fall in love and get married like any other girl, and now that they were out in the world even Sokka had begun to consider possibilities he'd never allowed himself to think about before. They might have left Suki behind, but they'd met a lot of people on their journey, and he knew that there would be other girls. He and Katara might have been each other's firsts, but for the first time in their lives, there was the possibility that they wouldn't be the last.

* * *

**A/N:** Um... yeah. This was the one chapter I originally _wasn't_ going to write as a romance, because incest is a major squick zone for me, but then this plotbunny popped into my head and Just. Would. Not. Leave. Me. Alone. So there you are. In the end, I think, it ended up being less about the pairing and more about the tragedy of Sokka and Katara growing up in such an isolated environment without any peers for companionship.

As a side note, I also know at least one pair of siblings IRL who've tried kissing each other out of curiosity. These things do happen.


	5. Toko: Equivalent Exchange

**Point in Timeline:** Immediately to several years post-canon

**Level of Explicitness:** Some intimate touching, brief reference to erection

**Secondary Pairings:** Kataang, Sukka

* * *

It took him some time to notice, but she was the only other person who was consistently there every single year.

Oh, it wasn't as if the others never showed at all. On the first anniversary of the end of the Hundred Year War they were all there, Sokka attempting to draw (Zuko determinedly did not look at the mess he was producing), Suki at the Pai Sho table with Mai (he had a brief flare of apprehension that they were developing some sort of rivalry), Toph with her feet up on the nearest available table, Aang and Katara talking quietly in the corner, and Zuko moving around the room serving tea to them all. Life was good.

"Nephew! Those kind people at the corner table are in need of a refill."

"Hit me with a cup of jasmine, Sparky! And make it double time!"

"Zuko, stop moving around! How am I supposed to capture the moment if you won't stand still?"

…even if he still couldn't catch a break.

On the second anniversary, Sokka sent his regrets.

"He says to tell you he's sorry he can't be here," Zuko overheard Katara telling Uncle as she and Aang came in out of the rain that she'd been waterbending off of them both, "but we've been away for so long, and Dad and Gran-Gran wanted at least one of us home to celebrate with the tribe this year."

"Any particular reason you didn't go with him?" Zuko whispered to her in an undertone later, while Aang was busy telling Uncle about their adventure in the Sun Warrior ruins.

Katara bit her lip. "I would have," she confessed. "But with that epidemic that was going around the Earth Kingdom the past few months they've needed every skilled healer they can get. I wasn't even sure I was going to make it here, to be honest."

Toph, in her corner, gave a small huff as she tossed back her tea.

On the third, Suki informed them she was going back to Kyoshi Island to visit her parents. "The last time she went home, it was so she could introduce them to me," Sokka muttered when Katara commented on this. "I think she wanted some time with just her and her family."

"Where's Mai?" Suki asked the next year, when she did decide to join them. "I was looking forward to having a game with her."

"She's not coming," Zuko said shortly, and Suki had the good sense not to ask anything more.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Toph.

"So what's the deal, Sparky?" If nothing else, she knew her work: she had cornered him in the kitchen while Uncle was out in the main part of the teashop, and there was no way to get past her without either breaking something or engaging in acrobatics that were highly impractical to attempt while wearing an apron.

He settled for scowling. "With what?"

"Don't lie. You know what I'm talking about." She crossed her arms. Though she had remained the shortest member of the group, Toph had grown over the years, and was tall enough to be properly intimidating when she stepped in close and jabbed a finger into his chest. "You've been sulking all day. Now, what's going on between you and Knife Girl?"

"We broke up," he snapped, grabbing her wrist and pushing her hand away. "Happy?"

The argument had been so stupid—something about how she should at least smile when they were out on a date—but it had ended in a full-blown shouting match (or at least, there had been a lot of shouting on his end). Harsh words had been exchanged—he only cared about himself, she didn't care about _anything_—and it had ended with Mai telling him it was over. This time, he was sure, it was over for good. He and Mai might have been on-again-off-again for several years following his return to the Fire Nation, but he didn't see any way they would possibly be getting back together after the way it had ended this time.

_"I put up with this when we were teenagers and you were going through a rough time," she said at last as she lingered in the doorway. "But Agni, Zuko—you're almost twenty. If you can't get ahold of yourself now, when will you ever?" She sighed. "I love you… but I won't put up with being treated this way." Clasping her hands in front of her, she gave a stiff bow. "Goodbye, Fire Lord."_

"No." Toph's voice jarred him back to the present. "I just want you to quit moping around. It's not like it's the end of the world."

"And what would _you_ know about it?" he snarled, his temper fraying at last.

"A lot more than _you_, apparently!" Her face reddened as she shouted; abruptly she turned on her heel and stomped away.

Nobody left the Jasmine Dragon in a good mood that year.

On the fifth year, the gathering was small—aside from Suki's absence to visit her family again, this time taking Sokka again, Katara had returned to the Southern Water Tribe, and Aang had gone with her. This time, it was only Zuko and Toph.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you," he apologized in an undertone as he leaned forward to set a cup of tea in front of Toph—Lapsang souchong, her favorite.

"No harm done, Sparky." Even as she curled her hands around the cup, however, Zuko couldn't help but notice that this year Toph was the one who looked unusually morose. "I shouldn't have been prying into your business."

"Call it even?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

Though he was glad for the reconciliation, something about Toph's demeanor was still bothering him. After attempting a few rounds of Pai Sho (during which Uncle kicked his butt five times in a row), he finally gave up and let a group of giggling girls have the table, moving instead to join Toph once more.

"Okay," he said as he pulled up a chair across from her. "What's wrong?"

"Oh no you don't, Sparky," she said, placing one hand flat against the table next to her empty teacup. "You wouldn't tell me anything when I pulled this on you, and I didn't grow up in a rich merchant family for nothing. You want me to give, you've gotta be willing to give something back."

He sighed. "Do you want to go somewhere a little more private?"

A few minutes later, they were in his room, the door closed and locked. "So what do you want to know?" Zuko asked now that they were alone, knowing that he had to go first—earthbenders were stubborn that way, and Toph wouldn't be telling him _anything_ until she'd gotten something out of him in turn. "Do you want to hear the details of my breakup with Mai?"

She snorted. "No. I can imagine _that_ for myself."

After this unflattering remark, however, she didn't offer any other options, and after a few minutes of waiting for her to either give him an alternative or tell him what was bothering her, Zuko gave a small cough. "So… what did you want to—"

"Your uncle said you have a scar."

"Well… yes." In all honesty, he hadn't expected the conversation to go this direction—he'd expected for Toph to demand that he recount some embarrassing story involving him and Mai. Or him and Azula. Or him getting frozen to a wall by Katara… "It's on my face. You… well, most people can't miss it."

She reached out her hand. "I want to see."

So Zuko sat down on the bed beside her, bracing himself as Toph placed a hand on either side of his head. She ran her fingers over both sides simultaneously, the normal half and the twisted, burned ruin, her touch feather-light as she compared his eyes, his ears, exploring the edges and the extent that ran beneath his hairline. Once she was satisfied, she nodded and pulled away.

"Where did you get it?"

"My father—Fire Lord Ozai—gave it to me. I was thirteen."

Zuko didn't know what had prompted the slip—it had been years since he'd last referred to Ozai as his father. He wasn't, not in any way that mattered. Toph only nodded, and did not ask for further details, which made Zuko suspect that she'd had some inkling of the story all along.

Instead, she reached into her shirt, pulled out a scroll, and held it out to him. "Read it. What does it say?"

The first thing he noticed was that the edges were fraying, yellowed and worn thin. Toph must have run her fingers over the parchment hundreds of times, even though she could not have read it.

"We… have no daughter."

Zuko realized that his breathing had gone harsh and ragged. Toph had never given any hint before, never said anything… or maybe she had, and he hadn't listened. What was that she'd said about running away back on Ember Island, when he'd been so worried about finding Aang that he'd dismissed her childhood woes as unimportant?

"Yeah." She held out a hand, and Zuko placed the scroll back into her open palm. "I've been writing them every few months since I ran away with Aang—or I've been dictating, I guess. Katara's been doing the writing." She paused, took a deep breath, and blew it out again, causing her bangs to drift upward before they settled right back down into her face. "_Sweetness_ thinks this is all a misunderstanding, and if I keep trying we'll make up and hug and be a big happy family all over again."

Zuko's hands clenched in his lap. "That kind of thinking nearly got me killed."

"See, _you_ understand. Sugar Queen and Snoozles don't get it. Their father…"

Zuko nodded. He'd met Chief Hakoda, seen the way he'd reached out to embrace his children at every opportunity, the way they'd received his affection gladly, without a trace of the self-doubt or desperation to prove himself that Zuko had known for far too long. It had made him smile, at the time, to see that such a thing was even possible; he'd been beginning to lose hope that family was anything more than a pretty fantasy that would be forever out of his reach.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. It was the only thing he could think to say.

"So am I." Toph's hands were now clenched in the sheets, a slight tremble running through her arms even though she was keeping her voice determinedly rock-steady. "Your family… how badly did they hurt you?"

It was a few minutes before he could answer. "It wasn't just Ozai," he choked out at last. "Azula, she..."

Hours passed as they sat in that room, side by side on his bed, and talked. Zuko told her how Ozai had fawned over his sister while treating Zuko like something he would scrape from the bottom of his shoe. Toph talked of a childhood spent wondering whether she would follow soon after if her parents suddenly died, because they didn't want to teach her to take care of herself. He recounted a childhood spent in fear, always on his toes because he knew that the second he let his guard down, that's when Azula would strike—with harsh words, with a tattle to Ozai, with a burn that she'd later pretend to their mother had been an accident. Toph told of having to hide her earthbending, of concealing her true self because she knew that her parents would reject her if they knew who she really was, of how they never spoke two words to her directly unless they were scolding her for doing something wrong.

Finally, Zuko described his last Agni Kai.

"Maybe she just hated Katara. She was pretty far gone at that point, so I can't know for sure... but I'm convinced that Azula targeted her because she knew I would take it." He let out a breath. "I can't stop thinking of her as my sister, but love to her is only something she can use. She meant to kill me. If I hadn't managed to partially redirect it, I would have been dead before I hit the ground."

"Do you have a scar from that too?" Toph's voice was quiet.

He hesitated for only a few seconds before opening his shirt. Then, he reached out to take her hand into his own, and guided it to his chest.

Her touch was surprisingly light; her fingers curious, questing. Or maybe that was him—he'd lost a lot of sensation after the burn had healed; he could perceive pressure there, but little else. When her fingers moved outward as she explored the boundaries of the burn, however, Zuko realized that it wasn't merely an illusion caused by the damage to his skin—her touch really was that light. Goosebumps rose on his arms, and a slight shiver went through his body as her hands moved past the edges of the scar to brush against normal skin.

Naturally, she felt it. Her hands stilled. "Want me to stop?"

"I—" He licked his lips, his mouth suddenly dry. What had just _happened?_

Already she was pulling away, letting out a sigh. "Guess this isn't the right time, huh?"

"No," he agreed. Abruptly he realized his shirt was still hanging open, and pulled it shut with a grimace. Not that it would matter, with only Toph in the room, but it was the principle of the matter.

Zuko was so, so confused. They had both—in his case quite literally—bared their worst scars to each other, and Zuko didn't think he'd felt this raw inside since that awful night spent waiting in Uncle's tent. If Toph's melancholy and the shaking of her hands were any indication, it was the same for her. Still... Heat rose to his face as a brief glance downward confirmed that his body was having a rather different reaction. At least Toph couldn't _see_ it, but there was no way she didn't know.

With a sigh, she pushed her way off the bed. "See you next year." Then, she was gone, leaving Zuko wondering whether there was any way for him to get in a cold shower without Uncle noticing.

* * *

The next year, Zuko was the first to arrive.

By the time he had made his way through the slums of Ba Sing Se and into the Middle Ring, it was almost closing time, though a steady stream of customers still flowed in and out of the doors in spite of that. He smiled; it seemed that Uncle at least was doing quite well for himself. Rather than vie for a space in such a popular establishment, Zuko settled himself outside of the doors and watched the Sun go down as he waited.

After a few minutes, the flow slowed to a trickle, and the steady drone of conversation that had been drifting to him from inside quieted and resolved itself into individual voices. "No, no, I'm sorry, but we are closing. Please do come back tomorrow, though!" A small group of young women left shortly thereafter, a few of them giggling behind their fans. Zuko waited a few seconds longer, but it seemed that they had been the last of the stragglers. Turning, he pushed his way through the doors.

"I'm sorry, but we are closed at the—_Nephew!_" No sooner had Zuko gotten his foot through the door than he was grabbed by his shirt and yanked into one of Uncle's bone-crushing hugs.

"Good to see you too, Uncle," he wheezed, patting the old man's back a few times before they pulled apart.

"Here, let me get a look at you." Uncle set him slightly back, holding him at arm's length while he looked Zuko up and down. "You have been eating? Sleeping? Are you hungry?"

"No, I had dinner with the Earth King. I would like some tea, though. Tea that isn't chewy!" he added hastily as Uncle bustled back into the kitchen with a look of delight.

"I take it that's why you are early," Uncle remarked when he emerged with a steaming pot a few minutes later. "I was not expecting anyone until tomorrow, to be honest."

Zuko nodded. "I had to be in the Earth Kingdom anyway to oversee some of the final steps of decolonization. Things are going better than expected, so we finished up early."

"It is good to see that things are going smoothly for you at last." Uncle lowered his cup with a smile. "I am sure that your friends will be glad to see you as well."

_His friends..._

As Zuko lay in bed that night, he remembered what had happened between him and Toph. He wondered how she was doing, what she was doing—they hadn't had any contact with each other for the previous year, which actually wasn't all that unusual for them. Between his duties and her preferences, the two of them were hardly ever in the same place at the same time, and they didn't write—while Zuko would have liked to clarify the... whatever it was that had happened between them last year, he wasn't about to trust any of his confused feelings to a letter that Toph would have to have read _to_ her. He'd just have to wait until they saw each other in person.

The next day, Aang was the first to arrive, bringing the Water Tribe siblings with him. Aang and Katara looked positively radiant, while Sokka bore a near-perpetual expression of disgust. When they hugged, Aang nearly squeezed him to death, and when Zuko finally managed to push him away he saw to his surprise that they were now eye to eye.

"Sorry," Aang apologized, not looking a bit sorry, "but it's so good to have the family back together again. Speaking of which, I should probably tell you the good news..."

He and Katara, as it turned out, were now engaged, which also explained the faces that Sokka was making. They were, Katara explained, holding off on the actual wedding until everyone could be present.

"I hope that everyone comes this year," she continued, nervously combing her fingers through her hair. "I don't want to have to wait too long..."

"Don't worry," Aang reassured, leaning in to kiss her. "I'm sure they will."

"Ugh." Sokka rested his face on the table. "Katara, would you please stop kissing Aang in front of—_Suki!_" Sokka rushed to lock lips with his girlfriend as she pushed her way through the doors, and the three remaining friends shared a good-natured eye roll.

That left only one person who had yet to show. Zuko clenched his fist against the urge to drum his fingers against the table, trying to hide his nervousness. Toph would be here. Toph was _always_ here. These yearly get-togethers were just like that: a home for the homeless, a chance to find family for people who had none of their own...

While Aang was still babbling on about his plans for the wedding, Zuko excused himself and retreated to his room. He'd go back in a few minutes. Right now, though, he needed some time to compose himself. He needed to decide what he would do when he saw Toph again.

Then, it had been the wrong time and place, and they had cut things off before they'd had a chance to go anywhere. Now, Zuko realized that he wanted it to go somewhere. What should he do, though? Bring it up directly? Drop hints when they were alone? Or should he simply treat her as he always had, and let her take the lead?

"Hey, Sparky."

Zuko had been so deep into his thoughts that he nearly jumped out of his skin. Even as he sent an ineffective glare Toph's way, she smirked.

"You did that on purpose!"

"Duh." She crossed her arms. "I don't suppose you have any more scars you'd like to show."

Zuko swallowed. "No. I think we're pretty much covered on scars."

"Good." The door latched closed behind her. "Because now I'd like to get a look at the rest of you."

* * *

**A/N:** Ah-ha-ha, did I say I thought Zuko/Suki was hard? Because writing _this_ chapter for me was like pulling teeth. The characters weren't cooperating, and all the while there was this voice in the back of my head screaming "No no no, Zuko and Toph are _siblings!_ _Siblings I say!_" (And yes, to anyone who wants to point out the irony: I found writing this chapter _far_ harder than I did to write Sokka with Katara.)

At any rate, I stretched it out over several years because I really wasn't comfortable romantically pairing a sixteen-year-old with a twelve-year-old, thus all the time skips until they'd reached an age where a relationship wouldn't result in sex offender status. It also just didn't feel right to have them get together during a moment of angst, even if that was where they first realized their attraction. While I'm all for angst, it doesn't go particularly well with romance in my book.


	6. Sukaang: All Sides

**Point in Timeline:** Several years post-canon

**Level of Explicitness:** Confessions and cuddles; G-rated romance

* * *

For most of Aang's life, it had been a given that benders had amazing powers. Katara had brought him back from the dead. Toph could see without seeing at all. Aang himself had so much raw destructive power that it sometimes frightened him—he could raise the sea, take away bending, or kill with a thought. Having mastery over a whole element—not to mention all four—brought with it enormous power, and it was that kind of power that made for the most legendary heroes and the most feared villains.

Perhaps that was why Suki fascinated him so much.

Aang would never demean Sokka's value to the team, but his contributions had been through quick thinking and an incredible skill with his weapon of choice. With Sokka, it had never been about strength. Suki pulled her weight in an entirely different way.

During their journey across Serpent's Pass, Aang knew Suki had dived into the water to save Toph from drowning, and she'd done it in full Kyoshi gear. When they were camped out at the Western Air Temple, he'd seen her challenge Zuko to a match and win. Granted, Zuko might not have been giving it his all, due to guilt over burning down her village and reluctance to go all out against a nonbender, but that was far from her only accomplishment. Sokka had repeatedly described how she'd climbed over several buildings and dozens of people to take the warden of the Boiling Rock as a hostage, without harming anyone else and without breaking a sweat. Even after the end of the war, he'd seen her go up against firebenders, earthbenders, and sometimes both at once, and come out on top again and again.

When he thought about it, Aang thought that what fascinated him the most was that Suki had managed to accomplish all of this without mastery over even a single element. He might have been the most powerful person in the world, but he'd been born with the Avatar Spirit. _His_ power was his destiny, his birthright. Not only was Suki strong, but she'd _earned_ her strength.

When she asked if he was up for a friendly sparring match, Aang naturally agreed.

"Any particular reason you wanted to spar with me?" he could not help but ask as they took their places.

"Well, beating Sokka is too easy and Zuko always holds back. At least with you, I know I'll have a worthy opponent."

They started with only one element at a time. It would be a challenge, for him to keep increasing the levels, so to speak.

"Fire," she said, when Aang asked where she'd most like to start. "That's the one I'm most used to fighting, and we might as well start with something familiar."

It was also the element he was least comfortable with. After all, he'd already hurt one person he cared about through his lack of control, and though he knew that he had to accept it and master this part of himself rather than pushing it away, he was still learning where the line was between respecting the element and letting his fear of it control him. It didn't help, either, that every other time Aang had used firebending in sparring, it had been against Zuko, who knew what he was doing and was experienced enough to get things back under control if Aang made a mistake. If he let the flames get out of hand against Suki, he knew, she did not have the luxury of being able to bend them to her own will instead.

"No offense, but maaaaybe we should have Zuko here," he ventured the first time. "You know, in case I lose control by accident..."

"_No_," she growled, and Aang never made that suggestion again.

As he watched Suki duck and roll and sometimes even run straight _through_ the flames, however, Aang began to realize why the suggestion of having a firebender present would have offended her. Suki _did_ have control, of the situation if not of the element. She'd spent the past several years fighting against people who'd been _trying_ to hurt her. The one time he did have a lapse in concentration, allowing a flame to grow to dangerous proportions, he still couldn't help but yell, "Suki, look out!"—only to feel a blow against his arm, which immediately fell limp at his side. The flames went out.

"Thanks," he panted, sinking to the ground and using his working hand to cover his face. He let out a groan. "I _thought_ my control had gotten better than that."

"I didn't hurt you, did I?" She was kneeling beside him, a look of concern on her face. "I didn't want to use chi blocking on an actual person until I'd gotten a bit better at it, but..."

"No, it's just numb." Aang rubbed his shoulder. "_This_ is why I didn't want to do this without some supervision. It's not that I don't respect your skills as a warrior; I don't trust _myself_. What if I burn you the next time?"

"If I get burned, I get burned. Wouldn't be the first time it's happened." Aang turned to look at her incredulously, and she only shrugged in response. "I'm hardly going to die from an accident, Aang. If you're going to spar—with anyone—that means taking a few risks. The important thing is that I know what those risks are and I'm ready to accept them."

It wasn't until that day that it occurred to him that Suki might be able to help him as much as he could help her.

Earth was another one that had always been hard for him, because it was his natural opposite. Whereas he was wary of fire because it was _too_ eager, earth didn't want to move unless forced, and it simply was not in his nature to force. Aang still had to focus more than with any other element to get the rocks to move to his will.

Of course, that said nothing whatsoever about his ability to _listen_.

"How much... did Toph teach you?" she panted after Aang had seen her coming and thrown her on her back for the fifth time that day.

"Well, she _is_ the only human I could have learned this from." He offered a hand, and Suki allowed him to pull her to her feet. "It saved my life against Ozai, so I'm not about to let myself go rusty."

As they continued to progress with earth, however, it became clear that his proficiency at seismic sensing wasn't the only thing that was giving her trouble. Last time, Suki had been thrown off by some of his fancier tricks but had quickly figured out ways to counter them. Now, she was throwing herself against the same wall again and again—sometimes quite literally.

"Is something wrong?" Aang finally asked, when a rock he thought she'd have been able to dodge left her cradling her arm and gasping in pain. "You seem kind of distracted."

"Nothing you can help me with." She gritted her teeth as she pushed up her sleeve; leaning in to look, Aang saw that it thankfully was not broken, only bruised—but it was still pretty bad as far as bruises went.

"Too bad Katara isn't here. She could have fixed that up in two seconds flat." Nevertheless, he pulled a bit of water from the well they'd been using for drinking, and froze it before wrapping it in a scrap of cloth and handing it over so she could hold it to her arm. "And I don't know about that. I might not be able to fix your problem, but sometimes even just talking about it can help."

For a few seconds she hesitated, her eyes squeezed closed, but then let out a sigh. "Sokka and I have been having some issues."

"You had a fight?" he guessed. Sokka and Suki had always seemed like such a perfect couple, but... well, everyone fought _once_ in a while.

Suki, however, shook her head. "We haven't been fighting—we haven't been saying much to each other at all, actually." With a sigh, she folded her legs, and Aang sank down to join her on the ground. "He spends so much time running off to the Fire Nation or the Earth Kingdom—which is fine, he's needed—but then when we do get time together, all he can seem to talk about is Yue, Yue, Yue." She handed the cold pack back over to Aang so that he could re-freeze it—it _was_ a rather hot day—and checked the swelling with a grimace. "I mean... I know she was someone he cared about and I'm trying to be understanding, but sometimes I'm not sure whether Sokka thinks he's with me or her."

"Well, I can't really judge without hearing Sokka's side as well." Aang handed back the ice, which she accepted with a nod of thanks. "But I was there at the North Pole. Yue made a great personal sacrifice and saved us all, but it tore Sokka to pieces—he'd promised to protect her only the day before. It seemed like he'd moved on, but... maybe he hasn't. At least if he's talking about it, that means he feels safe enough to open up to you."

"Maybe you're right." She stood with a stretch, though still holding her injured arm gingerly against her chest. "Thanks, Aang."

They got the rest of the way through earth much more smoothly. Suki, as always, adapted, using flying leaps to dodge his seismic sensing and jumping off of boulders even as he threw them at her. Aang was glad; he assumed that her renewed ability to concentrate meant that she and Sokka had worked out the worst of their relationship problems. As they moved on to water, however, he began having some problems of his own.

He and Katara had fought. As with many arguments, it had started with something little that hadn't even occurred to him would have been a problem—but as it turned out, it had mattered very much to Katara.

_"Why can't you spend some time __here__ for a change?" Aang, who'd only asked her to accompany him to celebrate the official holiday that commemorated the founding of Republic City, was taken aback by the vehemence of her reaction. "It seems like every other week you're dragging me off to some other continent!"_

_ "That didn't seem to bother you very much the first time!" She turned away from him, crossing her arms. "Look, Katara, I'm trying to understand. But I can't just settle down here in the South Pole. I'm the Avatar. The world needs me."_

_ "And my __family__ needs __me__! Don't ask me to choose between them and you."_

"Hey, Suki?"

"Hm?" They had just finished sparring for the day, and she was currently in the process of wiping the sweat from her face, but looked up curiously when Aang said her name.

"What would you do if you had to choose between your duties to a person and your duties to the world?"

A line appeared between her eyebrows at the question, but she did not ask him to elaborate. "Well," she said slowly, "if this is Avatar stuff, I can't exactly relate." She seated herself on a wide rock next to the stream, patting the top in invitation for Aang to do the same. "But I do remember what my auntie always said, when she was teaching us the warriors' code. Don't ever make a promise you're not sure you can keep."

That night, he lay awake in bed, staring at the pale white stone that he held in his hand. He hadn't started carving it yet, had only been experimentally bending it to the perfect size and shape. When he turned sixteen in a few months, he'd thought, then he could start.

Marriage was not an Air Nomad tradition. Theirs was the element of freedom, and while love was certainly endorsed and commitment respected for those who chose it, it was not the prerogative of a whole nation to tell any two people when or where or with whom they should commit, nor to dictate how people should live their lives whether together or apart. In adopting some of the Water Tribe's traditions, Aang had thought that he was respecting Katara's freedom. Never had it occurred to him that instead, he might end up sacrificing his own.

That winter, on his sixteenth birthday, he stood before Katara and told her he could not give her the care and commitment she deserved, and that he hoped that someday she might find a man who could, because his first duty was and always would be to the world. When he was finished, she only gave a jerky nod, before launching herself forward and wrapping her arms around his shoulders. Aang let out a sigh as he breathed in her scent one last time.

"Somehow, I always knew it would end this way," she whispered as they pulled apart.

"Still," he returned, "I'm glad for what we had."

Before he left the South Pole, Aang walked to the edge of the ice. The water before him was dark and still, with no sign of life stirring its quiet depths. Kneeling, he reached into his robes and pulled out the stone. He hadn't yet settled on what exactly he'd wanted to carve there—the symbol for airbending on one side, perhaps, a waterbender's mark on the other. Now, he knew, it would forever remain blank.

Icy water numbed his fingers as he slipped his hand beneath the surface. Even if he had wanted to (even though he _did_ want to), he couldn't have kept his hold when his fingers burned with cold; the stone slipped from his grasp, and Aang let it go, watching the small white disk until it sank out of sight.

* * *

"Hey, are you okay?"

Aang looked up, and a smile spread over his face when he saw Suki watching him from the edge of the clearing where they'd agreed to practice with airbending. She was out of uniform today, her hair tied back into a simple wolf tail and her fans tucked into her belt. "Sokka told me what happened," she added by way of explanation.

"I think that I will be." He did not pause in his circle walking, but made sure to savor the caress of the air currents that danced all around him. "It took me a long while to learn this, but sometimes, the only real way to be okay is to let go."

* * *

After they had finished with single elements, they started in on two: earth and water, fire and air. Suki, as usual, had a bit of trouble whenever they adopted a new combination but adapted naturally, and Aang also found himself thinking harder about how to use the elements in tandem: not just bending two at once, but making them work together, in harmony. Earth channeled water and wind fanned flames, and he and Suki moved over and around each other in a dance of violence that grew increasingly more sophisticated the longer they practiced.

"You know," Aang admitted one day, "I think I've learned more from sparring with you than I have from any bending master."

"I'm flattered," she replied with a smile, wringing out her hair; they had just finished with a particularly intense session involving water and earth, and by the time they were through they'd both needed to wash off the mud in the nearby stream. "But I honestly don't know how much longer I'll be able to keep up with you."

"Don't say that." Aang seated himself on the bank of the stream, folding his legs on the wide rock beneath him. "I've got all four elements, and sometimes I have a hard time keeping up with _you_. Besides, the monks always taught me that it's not the abilities you were born with that matter most, but what you choose to do with the talents you have." He brightened as another idea came to him. "Hey, maybe we should have Sokka come and train with us! I'm sure he'd appreciate the practice, and it might make it easier for you to have someone to team up with—"

When he saw the expression on Suki's face, however, he immediately stopped talking, and instead looked to her as he waited for an explanation. "Sokka and I are through," she said at last, her eyes hard and her mouth pressed into a thin line.

"Oh." It was all that he could think to say. He waited further, but Suki clearly didn't want to share more, and Aang didn't want to press her, so they finished their washing-up and left the training ground in silence. Sokka, when Aang saw him next, didn't seem to want to talk about it either, so Aang decided that whatever had happened, it was between them, and as long as no one was getting terribly hurt it was not his business to know.

Time passed. Sokka and Suki still did not seem to want to be within any proximity of each other, and though it made Aang sad, it actually wasn't all that hard to manage. After all, now that he and Katara were through, the six of them hardly ever had occasion to be in the same place anymore.

Their family was breaking apart…

It seemed as if Aang never got to spend much time with anyone anymore. Anyone, that is, except Zuko, with whom he regularly met to oversee decolonization… and Suki.

They were on to three elements now, and Aang knew that it wouldn't be long before they were sparring with all four. In spite of Suki's morose prediction, she had managed to keep up with him, adapting as needed to every new challenge. Sometimes, she even managed to give _him_ a run for his money—her chi blocking had gotten much better since they'd started, to the point where she could unerringly hit every point on a moving target without causing lasting damage, and Aang had learned not to let her get too close to him if he wanted to make it to the end of the match. What's more, she lately seemed to be increasingly driven: she had entered each sparring match with an intensity so single-minded it almost frightened him, pushing herself up if she was knocked down with no more than a grunt, besting him with everything from fans to katana to her bare fists. She didn't always win, of course—the Avatar could hardly lose so many battles, even to a warrior as skilled as Suki—but he would be lying if he said that he wasn't impressed.

That didn't mean that he couldn't also be worried.

Even though he knew that Suki could be trusted to take care of herself, Aang didn't like the way she was pushing herself. No matter how skilled a fighter might be, knowing one's own limits was essential. Suki was so good at what she did that Aang wasn't sure that she had quite learned hers.

"You know," he ventured after their first session with all four elements, a match which had ended with mud splatters, mussed hair, singed clothing, and both of them soaking wet, "you don't have to prove anything to me."

Suki was still breathing hard, pushing her bedraggled hair out of her face, and she sent him a hard look once she had finished wiping off the last of her running makeup. "What makes you think I'm trying to _prove_ anything? Especially to you?"

There was a time that Aang might have gone on the defensive, held his hands up and claimed that he hadn't meant any offense before dropping the matter altogether. Now, however, the years had made him into both a wiser Avatar and a wiser person—as well as a better friend.

"Look, Suki," he began, moving to stand beside her. "If I offended you, I apologize. All I'm trying to say is that I respect you, and that if there's anything you ever want to talk about, I'd be happy to listen."

At his words she let out a single breath, her shoulders sagging. "Sorry I snapped." Even though he waited, though, she did not say anything more.

* * *

"Aang."

He looked at her curiously as she stepped into the clearing; she looked hesitant, uncharacteristically so. "I was wondering if you would do me a favor."

"If I can." Whatever it was, it seemed to be bothering her a lot more than was warranted by a simple favor, and it made Aang reluctant to make any unconditional promises. "Go ahead and ask. The very worst that can happen is that you'll be no worse off than before."

Still she hesitated, and Aang could see her gathering her resolve. Finally, she took a breath, raised her head, and looked him directly in the eyes. "I want you to fight me in the Avatar State."

For a second, he was so shocked that he could only blink at her with wide eyes before he finally found his voice. "Wh-what?"

"I want you to fight me in the Avatar State," she repeated. "The whole point of this was to challenge myself. Push myself to my absolute limits. There's no way I can do that if you're not giving it your all either."

"I thought that the _point_ was to better ourselves." Aang was facing her head on now, and he had finally found his voice, standing before her with his arms outspread as he begged her to reconsider. "Nowhere in my understanding does that include killing each other!"

"For the last time," she snarled, baring her teeth, "you're not going to kill me. Just because I'm not a bender, that doesn't mean I'm _weak_."

"Is that what this is about?" Aang demanded. "You proving that you're not weak? Suki, you're one of the strongest warriors I've ever had by my side, and that includes almost every bender I know! I already told you, you have nothing to prove to me—and you shouldn't have to prove it to anyone else either."

"Oh? And what if this isn't about you? Did it ever occur to you that maybe I have something to prove to _myself?_" She was now breathing hard. "I _have_ to get better! I have to know that I'm as good as you are! I'm not—" Her eyes glistened. "I'm not going to be the one who always has to rely on _you!_"

"Suki." He was in front of her, he realized, grasping both of her hands in his own, squeezing her wrists reassuringly, and though her hands spasmed when he made contact, she did not try to pull away. "What would _ever_ make you think that I don't rely on _you?_"

"Yes—to take care of things on the ground while you're flying around solving the world's problems." She pulled her hands from his grip, and he let her go reluctantly. "I'm never going to be fighting by your side, though—not the way Katara did."

"Katara? Suki, what does Katara have to do with any of—"

Oh. _Oh._

"You know," he continued slowly, reaching up to grip her shoulders this time, "Katara used to get frustrated a lot, because I picked up on things so easily that she still had trouble with. Yet there were so many things she could do that I couldn't, and I relied on her for that."

Suki looked up at him, her eyes red. Though Aang had outgrown her some time ago, this was the first time he could recall feeling like Suki was actually _shorter_—as if she had a reason to look up.

"You also have a strength that I could never have. Not only that, you know what it is to _earn_ it." Arms still wrapped around her shoulders, he guided her to a nearby rock. Once they were both seated, Aang moved to clasp her hands once more. "Suki, you're not just a good friend, you're one of the bravest women I've ever known, and I… I would be _honored_ to have you by my side."

"Aang, you can't really mean that."

"When have you ever known me to lie?" He gave a brief smile as he squeezed her hands once more, but then let go with a sigh. "But…"

_A flat white stone, slipping from his hand into the depths of icy water. Don't ever make a promise you're not sure you can keep._

"I can't stop being the Avatar. My first duty is and always will be to the world. If you want permanence and stability… those are things I'm afraid I can't give you."

"They're also things that I never asked for." She shook her head. "Aang, if I hadn't been ready to sacrifice permanence and stability I never would have left my village. What I want—what I've always wanted—is respect, and to know that I've been worthy of it."

At that, Aang could not help but chuckle a little. "Suki, I'd say that having my respect is the _last_ thing you have to worry about."

Though she did not answer, her silence—not sullen or denying but a comfortable acceptance—told him all that he needed to know. After a few minutes of simple companionable sitting, Aang dared to reach out and wrap an arm around her waist, and Suki pillowed her head on his shoulder in return. It felt right—a rightness he hadn't known since Katara, after which he'd barely dared to touch another girl for fear of finding that that special thing he'd once had was now gone for good, that he'd had his only chance and lost it forever.

Where they were going to go from here, he couldn't have said. Suki had made him no promises, no more than Aang had asked for any, and even in the best of times, being life partner to the Avatar was never easy—but at long last, he thought he had finally found somebody who would rise to the challenge.

* * *

**A/N:** Yes, I am still doing this. Slowly. I really wasn't kidding when I said that romance ain't my forte. But hey, I haven't given up yet!

So this chapter wraps up the nearest-neighbor pairings (nearest neighbor in terms of elements and in terms of order of joining the Gaang), and also the first round of het pairings. (Don't panic, there will be another.) Next chapter, though, I'll be moving on to the slash.

...

I have hardly _ever_ done slash before. Spirits help me.


End file.
